I'm curious as to why there are so many guests on this site. Right now there are 2549 guests and 95 members yet only a handful of people actually post. I wonder why that is. So I thought I'd create a poll to see. I don't know if guests can respond to polls but even the registered users is a lot. Maybe the people that are registered but don't post might give some insight into why that is.

I think it's a good question, Mount... Why don't we have more registered users? or are the "guests" just looking to see what the site is and what it's about?

Well, when I logged out just now I found out that guests can't reply to the poll.

I lurked here for a while. Not all day every day I just used to look every now and then. Seemed easier to read another thread about "how long will my letter take............." than start my own. Of course, now I know that the answer to that question is the same as "How long is a piece of string?"

Originally Posted by Selly

Well, when I logged out just now I found out that guests can't reply to the poll.

I lurked here for a while. Not all day every day I just used to look every now and then. Seemed easier to read another thread about "how long will my letter take............." than start my own. Of course, now I know that the answer to that question is the same as "How long is a piece of string?"

LOL - so true! Well, perhaps the registered users that don't post can respond to the poll. It's anonymous if that might help people respond

From my experience with most forums I have belonged or belong to it can be quite intimidating posting questions or opinions (especially as a newbie) when there are strong opinions and personalities amongst the forum. Or, their question has been asked by someone else. Or, they are just here because of their curiosity regarding writing to inmates. Who knows, so many possible reasons!

my guess is that it's forum software.

Originally Posted by awakemysoul

From my experience with most forums I have belonged or belong to it can be quite intimidating posting questions or opinions (especially as a newbie) when there are strong opinions and personalities amongst the forum. Or, their question has been asked by someone else. Or, they are just here because of their curiosity regarding writing to inmates. Who knows, so many possible reasons!

I agree for sure =)

I was a lurker for about 6 months before I registered. I still just read the posts a lot and don't reply at all. There are a few different reasons. I tend to be anti-social and don't feel up to engaging a lot of times. Also, many times the threads are about something I have no knowledge of or opinion on so I really have nothing to offer. Or also a lot of times, other people's comments reflect my own thoughts/feelings so I see no need to add anything. I do find a lot of the threads very informative and I like hearing different viewpoints on certain subjects.

When you do a google search for something, you will often see forum posts in the results of that search. Lots of people will stumble on WAP just because they are doing a school paper on criminal justice, they may have no intention of ever writing to an inmate. Every time a media outlet runs a story on anything to do with inmates, you'll see the guest figures go up.

Originally Posted by mountanddo

I'm curious as to why there are so many guests on this site. Right now there are 2549 guests and 95 members yet only a handful of people actually post. I wonder why that is. So I thought I'd create a poll to see. I don't know if guests can respond to polls but even the registered users is a lot. Maybe the people that are registered but don't post might give some insight into why that is.

I have shared on some posts on this site. And I try to see what is new in terms of posts from time to time. I respond when I see something that I know about or have personal experience with or if I see someone that just needs help that I can provide. I do not post just to post or to be the top poster.

I have been involved with a female inmate for almost a year now, so writing her does eat into my time that I may otherwise spend reading and responding to posts here.

So you will see me making my two cents heard from time to time here in the forum.